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Ned Franklin Garver
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: December 25, 1925, Ney, OH
Signed: Signed by the St. Louis Browns as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Browns 1948-1952; Detroit Tigers 1952-1956; Kansas City Athletics 1957-1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961
Died: February 26, 2017, Bryan, OH (age 91)
Ned Garver relied on his craftiness as a pitcher to play in 14 big league seasons, mostly with the Browns, Tigers and Athletics. Garver was one of the few bright spots for the Browns teams of the early 1950s, and although he lost 17 games in 1949 and 18 games in 1950, his other pitching statistics were otherwise decent and he crossed the 200 inning plateau in both seasons. In 1951, he led the American League with 24 complete games and was a 20-game winner, becoming only the second player in the 20th Century to win 20 games for a team that lost at least 100 games. (Irv Young did it for the Boston Beaneaters in 1905.) Garver started the All-Star Game in 1951, facing off against the Phillies' Robin Roberts (#180), lasting three innings and allowing a run on one hit.
In August 1952, he was part of an eight-player trade that sent him to the Tigers, the team he had rooted for growing up in Ohio. After recovering from a back injury, Garver returned as an innings-eater and was one of the top pitchers for the re-building Tigers in 1954 and 1955. Traded to the Athletics following the 1956 season, Garver would cross the 200-innings pitched mark two more times. In total, he threw at least 200 innings or more in seven seasons, while pitching 198 innings in two additional seasons. While never pitching for a first division team, Garver enjoyed a relatively successful career and he's one of the more underrated pitchers from his era. In 402 games, including 330 starts, Garver was 129-157 with a 3.73 ERA and 881 strikeouts over 2,477 1/3 innings pitched. He threw 153 career complete games, including 18 shutouts.
Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #322
The Card / Tigers Team Set
I've always appreciated the talent some baseball fans have of being able to immediately identify a stadium from yesteryear by a billboard sign or a small section of outfield fence or a glimpse of some bleachers. I've never had that skill, and other than being able to tell immediately if a picture was taken at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, the locations of old baseball card photos remains a mystery to me. That being said, I can at least recognize Garver's "action" shot was taken in Yankee Stadium, given the famous facade present in the background. The Tigers visited Yankee Stadium four times in 1955, in May, June, August and September. I'd guess this picture is from either the May or June trips.
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| December 24, 2007 - Dad and Doug |
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #322
I first shared this story with the Roberto Clemente (#33) post, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here. The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory. Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set. Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning. I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set. And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards. This Garver card was one of the final 29.
The Card / Tigers Team Set
I've always appreciated the talent some baseball fans have of being able to immediately identify a stadium from yesteryear by a billboard sign or a small section of outfield fence or a glimpse of some bleachers. I've never had that skill, and other than being able to tell immediately if a picture was taken at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, the locations of old baseball card photos remains a mystery to me. That being said, I can at least recognize Garver's "action" shot was taken in Yankee Stadium, given the famous facade present in the background. The Tigers visited Yankee Stadium four times in 1955, in May, June, August and September. I'd guess this picture is from either the May or June trips.
The head shot is different from the photo used for Garver's 1954 Topps card, and he was exclusively with Bowman in 1955. The cartoons on the back highlight his personal accomplishments, all while pitching for a few fairly bad teams.
1956 Season
This season was to be the turning point in Garver's career. He pitched a complete game against the Indians in Cleveland on April 20th, and while throwing batting practice the following week in Kansas City, Garver felt something pop in his pitching arm. The injury, which some sources attribute to a pinched vertebra, limited him to just five more games for the rest of the season. Garver finished with an 0-2 record and a 4.08 ERA in 17 2/3 innings pitched. On December 5th, Garver, Wayne Belardi, Gene Host, Virgil Trucks (#117) and cash were traded to the Athletics for Jack Crimian (#319), Jim Finigan (#22), Bill Harrington and Eddie Robinson (#302).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #15
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1951-1954, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-NG
54 - Garver non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #15
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1951-1954, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-NG
54 - Garver non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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